Eolder for toilet articles



Jan. 21, 1936. J. M. SPINKS HOLDER FOR TOILET ARTICLES Filed Sept. 10, 1934 Patented Jan. 21, i38

FEQE

This invention relates to holders for toilet appliances such as tooth shaving brushes and like articles.

It has for its general object the provision of a holder adapted to be secured to the wall and having article receiving slots so constructed that while the articles can be readily inserted in the slots they cannot fall out nor easily be inadvertently dislodged.

Another object of the invention is the provision of'a holder including a substantially hori-" zontal flange portion having the receiving slots and having their flanges terminating at the sides of said slots for engaging the retained article so that it must rise over said flanges contrary to the normal stability of gravity before it can fall out.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a holder of the character described in which one or more of the slots is provided with a yielding wall normally constricting the mouth of the slot, but spreading against pressure of the article being inserted to admit said article and hold it yieldingly in place.

Still another object of the invention is the provision in combination with a holder of the type described of a paste tube wherein the cap of said tube constitutes the suspending means for retaining said tube within said holder, necessitating that the cap be placedon the tube before the latter is inserted in the holder, thus obviating the careless habit of children and others of leaving the tooth paste tube uncapped.

Another object of the invention is the pro-= vision of an article holder having a circular series of slots as described, in which the material struck up in the formation of said slots is arranged as tongues to form an annular receiver for a drinking glass.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the-following specification and throughout the several figures-of which the same char ecters of reference have been employed '5'; riesignate identical parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a toilet arti= cle holder embodfing the principles of my invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a portion thereof partly in section;

Figure 3 is a cross section taken along the line 8-3 of Figure 2;

brushes, cream, tubes,

then move forward. This Figure 2 is a side elevation partly in section showing a modified form of the invention;

Figure 5 is a planview of the holder shown in Figure 4, the drinking glass being shown in sec= tion; and 5 Figure 6 is a perspective view showing a slightly modified form of the invention. I

Referring now in detail to the several figures the numeral I represents in general a holder or bracket preferably formed of an integral piece 10 of sheet metal angularly bent forming a back panel 2 adapted to be suitably secured to the wall or any other vertical surface, and a horizontal shelf 3 having a series of slots l preferably of keyhole shape opening in the forward edge of is said shelf. Said forward edge is preferably bent up forming a series of flanges 5 terminating at the ends of the slots. The slots may be of different size, some to hold tooth brushes, one or more of larger size, as indicated at 6 to accom- 0 modate the neck of a tube of tooth paste or shaving cream and one or more, as for example, the slot 1 may be of still larger size to receive the handle of a shaving brush, for example. Since. the keyhole function is not usually exercised in connection with the larger slots, the keyhole feature may be omitted, and spring retaining means substituted therefor.

Figure 1 shows that the preferred form of spring retaining means is a single resilient wire 8 having a back portion 9 preferably concealed behind the vertical panel 2 and passing at both ends through apertures 5G to the front of the holder, and including substantially parallel limbs it and 52 arranged so as to form one side of adjacent slots and having their free ends l3 and bent in the same (Erection and slidably concealed in tubular guards l5 and i6 formed bybending over those of the flanges 5 which are adjacent the free ends of the resilient wire. Said wire may be secured in any suitable manner against displacement as by soldering or brazing the back portion 9 to the material of the panel}.

The operation will now be explained. The holder is designed to be secured to a vertical sur- 5 asihasflqbeen previously stated. Tooth sh are'inserted in the keyhole slots in the niown manner. If carefully inserted they ma be placed with the handles widthwise in the bulges ii of the keyhole slots and they cannot position is indicated in connection with the tooth brush it. The brushes may however be inserted without thought to the orientation of the handles, in the position, for example; indicated by the tooth brush i9. In this case, the head or bristle portion. of the brush is resting against the flange and the tooth brush cannot fall out of the slot in which it is inserted. If one, in attempting to remove the tooth brush l8, comes into inadvertent contact with the tooth brush IS, the latter may swing relative to the holder, but will not fall out in view of the fact that it is necessary for the tooth brush to rise over the flange 5 before it can be dislodged. I

'I'hetube of tooth paste 20 is shown suspended by the neck in one of" the large slots 2|. It was inserted by pushing it endwise into the slot against the rounded corner 2'2 of the spring wire 8. The limb l2 .of the wire was pushed back, the free and ii sliding within the tubular guard IS. The limb l2 rests with yielding pressure against the side of the neck of the tooth paste tube and prevents it from slipping forward. It is preferred to have the apertures so placed that the limbs i l and i 2 of the spring wire are slightly inclined with respect to the fixed sides of the slots which they control, so that the mouths of said slots are somewhat narrower than the width of the rearward portions of said slots, thus hold ing the tooth paste tube or tube of shaving cream as the case may be, positively in place.

It will be understood that it would be practically impossible to suspend the tooth paste tube til 26 in the manner illustrated and described in the absence of the cap 23. Consequently, the cap must be replaced on said tube after use before the tube canbe successfully inserted into the holder.

Figures. 4 and 5 show a modified form of the invention in which the back panel 2 is absent and the shelf having the series of notches is formed as a circular member 26. An angular post 25 is secured to the middle of the member 2:3 on the underside and attaches to the wall in known manner, effectively supporting the holder. In this form of the invention as in the one previously described, there are a series of keyhole slots 26 and certain larger slots 2"! and 2-8, the latter being controlled by the resilient limbs H and ii of the spring wire 8. The metal stamped out in forming the several slots is not severed at the back of the said slots, but turned up forming tongues 29 preferably with wavy contour as shown in Figure 4. The series of tongues '29 are disposed in annular arrangement to form a resilient holder for a drinking glass.

Figure 6 shows a slightly modified form of the invention in which those indents designed for the reception of the paste tubes are substituted by circu ar apertures 36 and 31 through which the necks of the tubes are inserted from beneath.

limbs H and i2 of the spring 9 intersect se apertures as shown and must be moved out of the way when the necks of the tubes are introduced. They are, therefore, provided with loops 32 at their outer ends adapted to be pressed by the finger.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be a preferred and practical embodiment ofjmy invention, it will be understood that the' details of construction as illustrated and described are merely by way of example and not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

1. Holder for toilet articles comprising a substantially horizontal shelf having receiving slots cut in from the forward edge thereof, said forward edge between said slots being turned up to form retaining flanges, and a resilient element adjacent one side of at least one of said slots guarding the entrance thereto and yielding to admit an article, said element comprising a spring wire anchored adjacent the back of said shelf and having an outer free end turned away from the slot which it controls, the flange adjacent said free end being turned over forming a guard slidably receiving said free end.

2. Holder for toilet articles comprising a substantialiy horizontal shelf having receiving slots cut in the forward edge thereof, said edge between said slots being turned up to form retaining flanges, and a resilient element comprising an integral spring wire having an intermediate portion fixed adjacent the back of said shelf and having limbs adjacent one side each of two adjacent slots, said limbs having free ends turned away from the respective slots which they control, the flanges adjacent said free ends being turned over forming guards slidably receiving said free ends.

3. Holder for toilet articles comprising a sub stantially horizontal shelf having receiving slots cut in the forward edge thereof, said edge between said slots being turned up to form retainirg flanges, and a resilient element comprising an integral spring wire having an intermediate portion fixed adjacent the back of said shelf and having limbs adjacent one side each of two adjacent slots, said limbs having free ends turned away from the respective slots which they control, the flanges adjacent said free ends being turned over forming guards slidably receiving v said free ends, said limbs being inclined so as normally to narrow the mouths of the slots which they control to a greater extent than the rearward'portions of said slots.

JOSEPH M. SPINKS. 

